Editor’s Note: Updates win totals to include time as boys coach at Carl Junction.
Republic soccer coach Kevin Hauck will step into a new role as assistant principal at Republic High School next year, leaving a vacancy on the soccer sidelines for both the boys and girls programs in 2022-23. The school board approved Hauck’s appointment as an assistant principal during its most recent meeting.
Hauck has been coaching soccer at Republic since he was hired as the girls coach in June 2015. He has also been a credit recovery/alternative education teacher at the high school. His first soccer season in Republic was in the spring of 2016. He took over the boys program in the fall of 2016.
“I will miss soccer for sure! It was a hard choice, but I felt like this was the right timing for myself and my family,” Hauck said. “The girls were sad today when I told them, (but) happy I was still going to be in Republic, though.”
Hauck led the Republic boys to their first-ever Final Four in 2017, where the Tigers finished third. Along the way, they avenged a loss to COC rival Carthage in winning their first-ever district title, knocked off perennial state power Glendale in a quarterfinal thriller, and rebounded from a semifinal loss to beat Harrisonville 3-2 for third place.
In five seasons at the helm of the girls soccer program, Hauck is 68-47 (before this spring season). The girls team lost a season to COVID shutdowns in 2020. In six seasons as the boys coach, Hauck was 83-56.
Including his seven seasons at Carl Junction, where he began his career, Hauck compiled an overall record of 156-99-2 as a girls soccer coach. Combining all boys and girls seasons at Carl Junction and Republic, his overall record is 293-181-4 at the start of this spring season.
Activities director Trevyor Fisher said they’ll begin searching for a replacement for Hauck right away. In the meantime, he and the Lady Tigers will try to put together a big sendoff during his final season as head coach.
“I told the girls we have to make this a special one,” he said.